Road Trip Around Australia

Around Australia Trip Planner

Build your own road trip around Australia or embark on one of our three suggested routes and itineraries with our Around Australia road trip planner. Maps, best camping, prices, top sights, awesome photos, drive times and distances, it's all here! So, buy or hire a campervan from the departure point of your choice and hit the road for an adventure of a life time!

Three Routes Around Australia

1. The Circumnavigation Around Australia

17,100 km | 244 hr drive time | 3 months or more

This road trip can be started and finished from any point you choose, but it misses the central desert region of Australia with Uluru, the Olgas, and Coober Pedy.

2. Our Favorite Road Trip Around Australia

18,100 km | 258 hrs drive time | 3 months or more

This is our favorite drive around Australia because it includes the central desert region and our beloved Uluru while missing out some of the less interesting stretches between Cairns and Darwin. You can start this road trip in Cairns and end it in Adelaide, or start in Adelaide and end in Cairns.

3. The I-Don't-Want-to-Miss-a-Thing Road Trip Around Australia

20,300 km | 293 hr drive | 4 months or more

If you're like us, and don't want to miss anything, this road trip around Australia includes not only Uluru in the central desert region but Broken Hill, Mungo National Park and the rural regions of New South Wales. You can start this road trip in Cairns and end it in Sydney, or start in Sydney and end in Cairns.

Build Your Own Road Trip Around Australia

Driving Around Australia

Vast Distances

Australia is larger than you might think - as large as the USA without Alaska and three quarters the size of Europe. It is also extremely diverse with everything from snow-capped mountains to lush tropical forests, the outback desert and rolling green pastures. If you fly from city-to-city, you'll miss all this.

The Best Way to Travel Australia is by Campervan

The best (and cheapest) way to experience Australia is to hire or buy a campervan and take a road trip. That way you can set your own itinerary, be spontaneous, take the road less travelled, and stop where you want for as long as you want. With a kitchen in the back, you can pull into a stunning location, make lunch and soak in the views. It's the most convenient, affordable and memorable way to dine. And at the end of an adventure-filled day, your home is wherever you park it.

Australia's Friendly Nomad Community

You will soon discover the camaraderie of the campervan community - kindred spirits who like to get off the beaten path, who appreciate the beauty of Australia, and are eager to share a few tips and their favorite camping locations with you. As Edith Wharton once said "One of the great things about travel is you discover how many good, kind people there are."

Traveling around Australia is a popular thing to do when you retire here, so much so that these travelers are known as the 'grey nomads'.

Kangaroos and Driving At Night

We strongly advise against driving at night due to the volume of kangaroos that will jump in front of your campervan. Not only will you damage your vehicle, but you'll injure or kill a kangaroo. When you see a dead kangaroo on the road, check its pouch for a joey when safe to do so. Kangaroo rescue centers can be located at Coober Pedy, Alice Springs, Darwin, Katherine and many other towns around Australia. You can find wildlife rescue phone numbers here. Offer it water but nothing else until you get it to a rescue centre. You might save a life!

Outback Driving Etiquette

If a truck approaches while travelling the outback roads, it is polite (and sensible) to pull over onto the side of the road and wait for it to pass. The trucker will thank you for it and you’ll protect your windscreen from flying rocks.